Im really cross now Ive gotten home and thought about things.....Have just come home from a 3 day camp with my son and 140 of his class mates. I did a lot of ground work before we went to ensure there would be plenty of food for him to eat, explained his allergies (the ones he;s previously had anaphylaxis to), and told them i could bring any food that they couldnt provide. The head cook assured me ' this is what I do...'" 'Ive never had an issue on camp' I check all the ingredients as I go along'' .
My son has the usual peanut, and treenut allergies but also pineapple and sunflower which come under many various names and are interchangeable between batches of the same food depending on what is cheapest at the time. The cook was really blase from the start.
Our first meal was fine although I did over hear him asking the coeliac child if a 'bit' of gluten was ok...I told him she wasnt allowed any before she got a chance to answer.
Breakfast (I'd decided to take some along for my son even though he assured me it would all be fine). At the help yourself cereal bar there was muslie with sunflower AND pineapple in amongst the other plainer cereals.
Lunch time they brough out fruit for the kids to help them selves...j came up and told me he wouldnt have any more watermelon because right next to it was a bowl of fruit that kids were diving their hands into that had amongst other things fresh pineapple in it...they were also diving the same hands into the watermelon that he'd just eaten.
Tea time, the chef pulled out a chocolate moose that he was going to serve up...I couldnt read the ingredients because they were too small(and he hadnt checked it). I had brought my own chocolate moose for my son and said we'd just give him that, but before I could get it to him someone else had given him the UNCHECKED one and he'd had two spoonfuls....on checking the ingredients it did have vegetable oil (which had the potential to be sunflower but obviously we couldnt check there and then). My son had made an assumption that because one of the staff had given it to him that it was OK.
Last day the cook says we have icy poles for dessert as he's handing one to my son. I asked him if he'd checked the ingredients-he looked at me as if I had two heads and said 'theyre only icy poles'...
We have been mighty lucky not to have had any serious reactions after all this...Im cross with myself for trusting this guy, cross that I should have worded my son up BETTER to check with me before eating anything, and really pissed off with the cook for being so blase about food allergies...he 'knew it all' but proved on at least 5 occasions that he was seriously lacking in knowledge about cross contamination and label reading.
I have written a letter to the camp and school. Thanks for letting me vent.

Oh Caz....thank goodness he didn't have any reactions, the lucky stars were alined. Vent away, that makes me so angry. I would rather be told straight up someone doesn't have the time, the knowledge etc. to accommodate then to have someone say 'ya ya no problem' but NOT have a clue.
How awful those 3 days must have been for you....more work than just having gone somewhere and done all the cooking yourself as this, was no holiday for you!!!!!!!!!!! I think people really do think they get it, sadly, there is no wiggle room for maybe!!!!! What if another parent or caregiver attends this camp with a child who has allergies but isn't as aware as you as to what is not safe (but the child is told is by camp staff). Makes me sick thinking what would and most likely will happen if it continues the way it is.

And I get you on the icy poles, I asked once if I could read the package to see if freezies were peanut free and the counter worker actually laughed at me in front of a group of people she was pretty sure there she'd never seen a peanut in an freezie.

There actually are 2 safe allergy camps in North America where ALL they do is have children with anaphylactic allergies attend. Time to hop the pond for a vacation.

What if another parent or caregiver attends this camp with a child who has allergies but isn't as aware as you as to what is not safe (but the child is told is by camp staff).
There actually are 2 safe allergy camps in North America where ALL they do is have children with anaphylactic allergies attend. Time to hop the pond for a vacation.

Thankyou! Yes the 'what ifs' are horrible here. This guy was used to dealing with peanut allergies but little else I think.

Unfortunately the pond is too big to hop over at present (we live in australia lol). I think I got so spoilt last year by the first camp that we went to that was truely amazing....they really did know their stuff and had very solid protocols in place for dealing with every special diet...this place really was just hit and miss.

The cafeteria staff are very good about making accommodations for her. In one case they even made her a special tray of lasagna that was safe! They always have the information she needs and in 3 weeks she has not had any reactions from food

It really helps that she speaks up for herself now and no longer thinks she is being a bother. When younger she would rather not eat than have to ask someone about her allergens. Now she just takes it in stride. I think that each individual is different as to when they find that comfort level - some will do it very young, for mine it wasn't until age 16.

_________________me: allergic to crustaceans plus environmental
teenager: allergic to hazelnuts, some other foods and environmental

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